Song of Light
by Rosabell
Summary: Three years after events in Shadowdance,Syaoran invites Sakura to her first ever Council Gathering,this year located in Korea.While there, Sakura learns that Syaoran is faced with a duty,and she has to choose between a normal life,or a life with Syaoran..
1. Chapter 1

Song of Light

Chapter 1

Touya and Yukito were both graduating. Syaoran wanted to buy a ticket to see Yukito in costume and wanted to see Yue in that hat. At least that was what he said in his letter. Sakura was a bit mortified, but Yukito took it in a stride, saying that Yue would even let Syaoran take pictures if he wished as long as Syaoran also wears the costume at one point and takes the picture with him.

The graduation ceremony took place in a large auditorium. The graduates sat in the front while the deans and advisors prepared to give their long speeches. Syaoran met up with Sakura and Fujitaka as they entered the auditorium.

" I take lots of pictures of Yue." Syaoran declared a little goofily. " I want to show all my friends back in Korea what the great Yue looked like when he graduated from college."

He really changed a lot. As Chul and Ritsuko constantly predicted, despite his pimples which were far and few between, at age fourteen he already looked quite handsome, and although boys grow later than girls he still managed to be slightly taller than Sakura. His voice was very scratchy and his body was lanky and his face still extremely boyish, but that only promised future growth and potential.

They had not seen each other for about two years, actually. Sakura got busy preparing for the standardized tests for high school and she had no idea just how Syaoran occupied his time during that period. They communicated often enough through letters and by phone, but Syaoran did not come by Japan until today. It was good to see him.

Syaoran was happy to see Sakura too. He actually kissed Sakura on the cheek, conveniently when Fujitaka was not looking. They sat next to each other in the audience and Syaoran kept squeezing her hand and looking at her, grinning. It seemed like it was all he could do to contain his joy. He even kept his hold on her hand when taking pictures of Yukito. This Fujitaka did notice, but the man did not comment, only smiled faintly. Sakura wondered if she had ever been this content in her life.

The actual ceremony was quite boring. There were a lot of meaningless speeches pretending they were meant to inspire whatever ethics it was in the hearts and minds of the graduates, who really wanted nothing more than to go out and get drunk in a bar somewhere. Touya and Yukito had planned originally to go out with friends for the post graduation party, but after Yukito heard Syaoran was coming he insisted that such parties were not hard to come by during any of their former college years, but a visit from the thunderspeaker was. Touya was slightly annoyed at this but he saw Yukito's point, and Sakura did not mention to Syaoran that they had changed their plans so drastically on his account. After what happened four years ago, the last thing Syaoran needed was to know that he was messing up anyone's plans, however minor and trivial they may be. And besides, the fact that Touya would _not_ get drunk that night was something that pleased Fujitaka immensely, and that was always a plus for anything.

Once the ceremony was over all the graduates swarmed out in their little groups with their families. When it came down to it Yue was much more bashful than Yukito made him out to be.

" Just one." Syaoran insisted, grinning devilishly. " Just one. Iie, two. Just two. They'll be quick. You look splendid."

" If I looked splendid," At this point Yukito had taken off his gown and cap as it was kind of hot, " You would not be wearing that expression."

Syaoran made no effort to clear it off his face. " Just two." He continued. " Come on, Yue. Be a good sport. It's really not such a big deal. Well, except I'll look even cooler among my friends."

" You desire popularity?" Yue cocked an eyebrow.

" Iie. I desire coolness." Syaoran grinned, knowing full well that what he just said did not make any sense. " And being able to catch Yue in a cap and gown is really _really _cool. Come on, you've got to admit. Only special people like the three of us can take a picture of you like this. And Eriol-san, who is not here…wonder why not. He told me he was coming. Probably got caught up in things again."

Touya eyed Syaoran with a bit of amusement, while Sakura just stood there wondering how Yue would respond. Fujitaka had gone to speak to some of the professors concerning some kind of government grant, which left the two college graduates and high school students to themselves for the moment.

" Just two." Syaoran grinned. " Besides, you promised. Sakura told me so. Then I can wear the cap and you can take a picture of a thunderspeaker wearing that garb. I'd look even more ridiculous. I'm too short."

Actually, no matter how Syaoran puts it Yue would always look more ridiculous in a graduation gown and cap, and everyone knew it.

" Fine." Yue relented.

Syaoran, still grinning, handed the camera to Sakura. " Take a picture of me with the famous Yue, Guardian of Sakura Cards."

" What kind of joke is that?" Touya snorted. " You're the one and only thunderspeaker."

" But Yue looks cooler. He's tall, he's got awesome hair, and he's in a cap and gown. Where is that bird I made you?"

" At home."

" You've gotten so blunt over the years." Touya chuckled as Sakura adjusted the camera angle.

" That is fine." Yue even went so far as to wrap his arm around Syaoran's shoulders as they posed for the picture. Sakura told herself to remind Syaoran to give her a copy.

" You know what would be awful?" Syaoran told Yue as Sakura took another picture.

" Nani?"

" If your gown was pink."

" Good heavens." Touya looked disturbed now.

" Daijoubu, your turn." Yue took off the cap. Syaoran put them on with more enthusiasm than Yue did.

" You've gotten too tall for me to lift you." Yue noted a little regretfully.

Syaoran grinned at Yue. " Hey, I can't stay short forever. That's just not suave enough for a cool thunderspeaker like me."

" You are _really _happy today." Touya noted.

" Of course I am. My favorite Clow guardian graduated from college today."

" And you got to hold hands with the kaijuu. Don't think I did not see that."

" You know what, I am so happy right now I won't even get nervous about that."

" You shouldn't." Sakura glared at her brother. " Besides, who's the thunderspeaker here?"

" Sakura, your brother is the scariest guy I know. Short of your father."

" Nani? What did my father ever do to you?"

" I'm just scared of what he might do to me once he finds out you and I are—"

" Kids?" Fujitaka looked at Syaoran a little oddly. " Shall we go home?"

oO

" Come and visit me in Korea for the summer."

" My job starts next week."

" Mine starts in the fall. I can come."

" I was thinking about volunteering this year."

" It's your first year. Don't sweat it. You get a free transport to Korea and back via the lightning express."

" You sure you won't throw us around like you did with Eriol?"

" Oh please. That was years ago. I've gotten it all worked out now. I have tons of friends who want to meet you. It's going to be a blast."

" I can't speak Korean."

" You can speak English."

" We're all _bad _at English."

" Don't worry. We are too. It's no big deal. And besides, if you come, I can show you a whole new world."

" That sounds kind of disturbing."

" You're a pervert, To-ya."

" You _are._" Syaoran looked pointedly at Touya. " And don't think I didn't get that reference. I know quite a few American college students. And as for the song, they were on a carpet."

" What are you talking about?" Sakura asked.

" Don't ask." Syaoran looked at Sakura. " But I mean it. You think that magic's just a few scattered events between lunch times, but I'm telling you, there's a whole society that we elementals are unfortunate enough to have to regulate. I want to show you the unicorns too."

" Unicorns?" Sakura blinked.

" Hai." Syaoran grinned. " Yue knows about them. Right Yue?"

" Sure." Yukito replied. " It should be fun, Yue says."

" I know, Yue." Syaoran grinned again. " You didn't say 'fun'."

The group laughed.

" You're eventually going to get caught up in the mess." He shrugged. " So start early. I mean, I've weeded out all the bad folks. You're only going to meet the good folks. They're quirky, one of them's even more perverted than Touya—"

" Hey!"

Yukito elbowed Touya. " You deserved that." He said, much to Sakura's confusion.

" He's irritating and he gets on our nerves at times but he's a good guy." Syaoran shrugged. " And besides, as I said, they all want to meet you. This Card Mistress that I claim to be dating. Oh darn it."

" I did not hear anything." Touya said flatly.

" Get over it, Oni-chan." Sakura punched him lightly on the arm. " Who else would you rather I date?"

" You're too young."

" I'm fifteen!"

" Romeo and Juliet were both fourteen…they died, well, that's a bad example." Syaoran frowned. " that Christine from Phantom of the Opera was fourteen too. Or was she sixteen? She had a happy ending. And she married the Vicomte de Chagny. And girls in the old days use to get married when they were fourteen. Sakura and I are just, well, we're not even dating." He looked a little morose at this.

" I see nothing wrong with the matter."

" You're unusually biased, Yuki."

A cell phone rang. Syaoran jerked and fumbled for his phone.

" Chul," He greeted, then started speaking in Korean. The other three turned around and started talking amongst themselves.

" Isn't it great?" Yukito smiled. " He's been through so much but look at him."

" Don't give her any ideas."

" I'm not!"

" I want to go with Syaoran-kun." Sakura told Touya.

The young man shrugged. " Can't stop you."

" I think we'd have lots of fun, anyway." Yukito smiled.

" Well," Syaoran hung up, " That was Chul, asking me how long I plan to stay here. I think I plan to hang around for a week in Japan, visit a few friends, say hello, especially to Takashi-san. This is just great. I'm trilingual but I suck at all three languages."

" You don't sound like you suck." Sakura looked at him.

" Don't you know English too?" Yukito asked.

" You don't get it. I suck in Korean. I keep getting eighties on my essays." Touya snorted at this, which Syaoran ignored. " It's the price of knowing too many languages. And as for English the junk that I learned probably would not even get me out of a subway station in New York, according to Jack. Well, maybe if I learn by turning into light again, but there are too many versions of English to keep track of. So I'm sticking with trilingual. And I guess I won't be able to write decent essays in Chinese or Japanese. And just when China's economy is booming." Here Syaoran actually looked a little tired and depressed. No doubt the traumatic year still affected him, as much as his new bright exterior liked to cover that up.

" How has Chul been treating you?" Yukito asked.

" He's been very good to me." Syaoran smiled. " He's actually nice to people now."

Everyone laughed.

" Hai, he's cool."

" Should I ask Otou-san if I can go?" Sakura asked.

" Go ahead." Touya shrugged. " I'm pretty sure he'd be alright with it."

" Doesn't hurt." Syaoran agreed. " Go ask."

Sakura headed upstairs to ask Fujitaka. Syaoran held up the camera suddenly and took a shot of Touya and Yukito.

" Hey!" Touya started. " What was that?"

Syaoran smiled, but suddenly it seemed to both Touya and Yukito that his smile was strangely sad and wistful. It was so quick they barely believed they saw it, for instantly Syaoran looked away and the smile looked happy again.


	2. Chapter 2

Song of Light

Chapter 2

Syaoran's white chou actually served to be more than an amplification of his powers. They served a rather practical purpose of slowing his flight, since when he used them he did not need to transform into his elemental form as the chou did the flying for him. Sakura was a bit awed by the image, since using the chou took a lot of moving and swirling the cloth around, and since the result was the image of Syaoran dancing on air it was more beautiful than anything else.

They arrived in Korea rather quickly. By the time they arrived it was afternoon. Eriol was already there, dressed in his sorcerer robes.

" Where are we?" Sakura asked as she landed, for around them there were many people, many of whom were not elementals, let alone waterspeakers. She had assumed they would arrive at Syaoran's home first, but Syaoran had landed in the middle of what appeared to be a town square, with many tall buildings. Many people, dressed in robes, hurried back and forth, while others greeted each other warmly, with affectionate embraces. Sakura felt almost out of place in the midst of so many formally dressed people, though she took comfort in the fact that Syaoran, despite his white chou, was in a t-shirt and jeans.

" You came in a knick of time," Syaoran told everyone happily, " Right now it's the beginning of the Council Gathering, or as I like to call it, the Magic Festival…although I probably shouldn't call it that anymore, considering." He paused. " You know, I never thought it sounded so corny before, but it does." He shrugged. " Anyway, it's sort of Harry Potter-ish, you have this separate town square where all magical beings gather and we hold diplomatic meetings that are really boring. But you can meet my friends! They come from all over the world and I go to school with some of them."

Syaoran's enthusiasm was contagious, and Sakura brightened at the prospect of meeting other magical people of her own age group. The youngsters Syaoran spoke of were easy to spot. For one thing they were all wearing t-shirts, tank tops, sweatpants, jeans, all casual and simple clothing. They gathered in a group to the far side of the courtyard where there were many willows and maples growing. Sakura had never seen so many different people in one place. There were short ones, ones that looked dwarfish, and tall ones like basketball players, pale ones, dark ones, so dark that they looked almost black, white ones that were as pale as snow, little ones, big ones, and all of them talked and laughed together like they were a big family. Japan was by no means ignorant of the different races out there, but few people were exposed in such a manner, and that did not count the magical beings that also collected in the square.

The African boy, tall with dark tight curls for hair and skin so dark his teeth and eyes looked like they were glowing in contrast, was the first one to greet Syaoran. He spoke in English, though with a thick accent, and slapped Syaoran on the arm.

" That your girlfriend?" He asked in Spanish, turning his friendly brown eyes to Sakura, who merely gaped at his dark form.

Syaoran grinned and said something in Cantonese, before switching abruptly to English. Eriol cocked an eyebrow.

" What are they saying?" Sakura asked.

" He's saying you're his girlfriend."

Sakura brightened. They had not actually made it official yet. For some reason, over the past few years it had always felt somewhat awkward to make it official, despite the fact that both knew the other loved them. Was Syaoran staying in Tomoeda now? But it can't be…he's still living with Chul, isn't he?

" Well, this is Antonio." Syaoran introduced. " He comes from Angola. He's a beastspeaker, more specifically, a land beastspeaker, so if you get any pets for some reason in the future and they happen to have four legs, he can talk to them for you."

" Haha," Sakura laughed, but she was wondering how on earth she was supposed to be able to communicate with this one.

" He can understand us too, since he's a land beastspeaker, although there are enchantments that I'm going to link you to later that allows you to understand everyone. Hey Antonio, you know where Marcus is?"

Antonio replied in a rather flat tone, and a tight smile. Syaoran groaned.

" You have drinks around here?" Eriol asked unexpectedly.

" Authentic champagne, from France. Giselle brought a whole bunch like she does every year and Marcus loves to take advantage of that."

Antonio said something, and Syaoran swiftly translated, " She's rich."

" Good lord." Eriol remarked. " How much champagne did this guy drink?"

" He can swallow the Nile. Don't ask." Syaoran winked at Sakura, something that made Sakura blush a deep red. " Ah well. All kinds of people here, as you know already."

" Ah." Eriol grinned. " I miss these kinds of gatherings. At length they became less enjoyable and more of a frustrating affair, but I remember the days when they were still exciting."

Syaoran laughed, and Sakura had a feeling she had a lot to get used to.

" Come, I still have to introduce you to the others. Guys, this is Kinomoto Sakura, she is the Card Mistress from Tomoeda, Japan. This is Hiirigizawa Eriol, Clow Reed, this is Yue—"

" Yue?" The children gasped collectively and stared in open awe. Syaoran was not joking when he implied Yue's reputation when he was taking Yue's pictures. To his credit, the guardian took the stares rather generously, though without comment. The children murmured to the effect that Syaoran was not lying when he said he knew Yue.

" Why do I get the feeling that Yue is more amazing to you guys than Clow Reed or Sakura?" Syaoran noted.

Whatever one of the girls said had Eriol grinning a little devilishly and Syaoran blushing beet red.

" Well that's your excuse." Syaoran protested rather adamantly, " What about you?" He turned to the guys.

The guys laughed and one remarked something that sounded suspiciously similar to what the girl said. Eriol's grin widened and Syaoran's color deepened.

" You people are hopeless."

" Great minds think alike," Eriol laughed, earning him the approval of many of the teenagers.

" I sense that the comments are made at my expense." Yue muttered.

" I think so too." Sakura agreed.

Syaoran went on with the introductions. " This is Kerberus, the Sun guardian," He was treated with less awe but more interest, since he was in his false form, " Ruby Moon, Spinel Sun, Daidouji Tomoyo, who by the way I have to thank in advance because she's going to have to make a lot of robes for me." At this both Sakura and Tomoyo looked curiously at him. " This is Yamazaki Takashi, a good friend of mine. And oh, the last two can't cast spells and if I catch you pulling any pranks they can't fend off," A bright spark shot up from Syaoran's index finger in warning.

The children did not seem that threatened, partly, perhaps, because they were all generally very amiable. The group ranged from about eight years old to twenty, with the little ones more interested in Kero and the older ones more interested in Yue. Syaoran then named his friends. It was actually a lot to take in.

" Lolz," Said one of them in English, a metalspeaker named Dmitry whose flaw could easily be recognized, " You'll be okay. Syaoran here has a lot of friends." At Sakura's expression once she understood him, he once again exclaimed, " Rofl."

Eriol stared at him, barely managing to contain his mirth. " How often do you instant message?" He asked.

" Not often. But I play online rpg's. You play Wow?"

Eriol's mirth escaped him. " No."

Elementals apparently had a lot of queer folk, including one that Syaoran had named Gregor and warned to be a pervert and apparently being a windspeaker made it a bit worse. There was another one, Adiba, a Pakistani earthspeaker whose accent when she spoke was so thick that even with the spell Syaoran had a hard time understanding her. According to Eriol she was speaking English, like most others, since apparently she needed to practice. There was also a firespeaker, a Filipino girl others called Bulanadi who liked to smoke anything that was flammable. If Syaoran was at all disturbed by the fact that she was a firespeaker, he did not show it.

" Smoking is bad for you." He told Sakura gravely. " Unless you're made of fire to begin with. In which case smoking is really good for you, even if it's bad for others. You can see why we have a hard time discouraging her from this habit. It just does not seem logical to try in her case, and the nice thing is there's no second hand smoking since she's pretty greedy in that regard and just absorbs anything crusty in the air."

Besides her habit, Bulanadi also seemed chronically depressed, a subject Syaoran touched slightly upon but did not elaborate on. Sakura figured she could ask later.

After these hurried introductions, Syaoran led Sakura and the rest of his Japanese friends to the tall collections of buildings built specifically for those attending the festival to stay for the duration of the months. The festival was notably a rather huge affair, and is often someplace else, normally Europe and America and China, since such places had more variety of groups. This was the first year in how many centuries that the festival was taking place in Korea.

Not that it mattered. Apparently all those who attend the festival have an easy time of making it to the occasion. And wherever the festival took place, the natives and the guests had an easier time of creating buildings and halls to accommodate everyone.

" But you're going to have to share rooms. You okay with that?" Syaoran asked. " You and Tomoyo can share a room, unless you want to be with Yue?"

Blushing, Sakura muttered that she wanted to hang out with Tomoyo.

" Well," Syaoran turned to the others, " I take Takashi-san as my roommate, in case anyone gets any ideas on him. I need to go take care of some things though, so my room is right there and you go unpack."

So far the group had seen no sign of Chul, or Matt, though Ritsuko came shortly afterwards.

" Hi everyone!" She greeted brightly, and gave everyone a hug, including Kero. " Long time no see!"

" How are you?" Sakura asked.

" I'm doing well. This is the first time you attended the festival?"

" Hai." Sakura nodded.

" Un, we're going to have to hook you up with Marcus. Once he's sober." Ritsuko rolled her eyes. " Then you'd have no problem communicating with anyone here. It even lasts outside the festival so it's really worth the while. Where did Syaoran go?"

" Don't know." Yukito was adjusting his glasses, having transformed into his false form to save energy, " He said he had to take care of a few things."

" Oh that." Ritsuko's face fell, but brightened almost immediately afterwards, " Well, did he introduce you to everyone at least?"

Sakura gave her an expression of distress. " Hai."

Ritsuko laughed. " He's popular around here, but don't worry, he'll take care of you guys. Settle in and come down, food's almost ready."

" Food?!" Predictably, Kero was the first to perk up. Yukito was not far behind. " Food? Where's food?"

" It's not ready _yet_," Ritsuko laughed, " Just settle in and I'll call you when it's ready!"

Kero grinned like a fool while they unpacked.

" I wonder what Syaoran-san meant when he said I was supposed to make robes for him." Tomoyo looked at Sakura.

" You don't want to?" Kero asked.

" It's not that. It's just...he's never asked me for that kind of thing before. And where am I supposed to get the materials?"

" I'm assuming he'll provide you with those." Sakura told her.

" Hm." For some reason Tomoyo seemed less enthusiastic about this than she usually would.

In the other room Eriol looked at Nakuru and Yukito.

" Ritsuko already claimed me as her roommate." Nakuru looked at Yukito. " Is it just me or is this whole affair very strange."

" Why did Syaoran need a roommate?" Eriol asked Yukito. " It's one thing to say that perhaps he is reserving a space for our sake, but I get the feeling that somehow he should be rooming with Chul. Who by the way, we never saw on our way here."

" He is growing up." Nakuru shrugged carelessly. " Fourteen-year-old, turning fifteen in about a month. I imagine he would not be interested in relying so much on his father figure."

" That does not seem right though." Yukito mentioned, " He adores Chul, I doubt he would mind, not to mention the frequent phone calls he has been getting while in Tomoeda. It almost seemed like Chul is keeping a tighter leash on him this year."

" Chul has been calling him?" Eriol asked.

" Hai." Yukito nodded emphatically. " Every hour, unless it's past ten. But once, every hour, and Syaoran always picks up, in a hurry since, well, he never said any call could wait."

Eriol was skeptical. " Are you certain?" Somehow he doubted Chul would be so overprotective. Especially since Syaoran had gone on trips on his own before, visiting Eriol and Kaho in England and Ichiro in America.

" At first we did not notice." Yukito told him. " But after a while, it would ring during dinner, it would ring...anywhere. For a child whose parent is so clingy, Syaoran is putting up with that very well. Which makes the situation even more bizarre. Why would Chul be keeping such close tabs and then let Syaoran room with another?"

" It's Yamazaki-san." Eriol pointed out. " There is nothing he could do to Syaoran, not to mention we are all close friends. Perhaps here Chul finds it easier to let Syaoran loose a little?"

" Maybe." Even Nakuru was a little concerned now." We should ask him later."

" Un." Yukito agreed, and when Nakuru left they went back to unpacking.


	3. Chapter 3

Song of Light

Chapter 3

Syaoran had changed his clothes by the time everyone finished unpacking. He was wearing another t-shirt and sweatpants, and his hair was wet. His chou was wrapped around his waist.

" I should probably try getting that spell out of him." He was saying, complaining a little. " Where's Abuji? I need to ask him something."

As if on cue, Chul's voice could be clearly heard.

" Roll call tonight, nothing further!" He was commanding. " I don't want any discussion until tomorrow at ten thirty. No one is to get any advantage here."

He appeared, and Sakura did a double take. Though Chul had always worn traditional robes of a waterspeaker, today he was wearing more elaborate robes than usual, and actually had a scepter in his hand. There was a strange light in his eyes. He was very annoyed.

Syaoran seemed to be wary of him as well, but Chul waved off the other magicians to speak to him. " Syaoran, is everything going alright?"

" They're all settled, or settling." Syaoran gestured. " I'm rooming with Takashi-san. Speaking of which, I need to check on him."

Chul did not comment on Syaoran's wet hair. " Get the kids in order. Roll call is in an hour for the council members. You're in charge of anyone 15 and under."

" Poo. Alright." Syaoran turned around. " Sakura, come with me."

Bewildered, Sakura obeyed.

Outside the atmosphere was very relaxed, though Syaoran suddenly adopted an almost nervous air as he looked up in the sky. " Day's too bright for this. Can you use the Cloud Card and shape them?"

" Hoe?" Sakura blinked. " Why?"

" I need everyone to assemble for the roll call." Syaoran replied. " That way we know everyone's arrived in one piece."

" Oh. Okay." She summoned the Cloud Card. " What do you want me to do?"

" Get it to write these words. 'Roll Call in one hour, convene in courtyard'. Er, do it in English."

After getting Sakura to spell everything correctly, Syaoran flashed lightning in the sky to get everyone's attention. He then beckoned to Sakura. " We get to do it outside. The adults have to do it inside, where it's dark but shady."

Sakura felt like she was way in over her head. As she followed Syaoran, she observed other children casting spells like they had been born to do it. It made her feel almost inept. For the past three or so years she hardly ever actually used her cards.

People were already gathering in the courtyard. The waterspeakers had already misted an announcement next to Sakura's, with a similar message in English except people were to convene in the Main Hall. Some of the kids were playing what looked like a magical sport. A bunch were playing some sort of ice volleyball and hitting an ice sphere with water, which was what looked like what got Syaoran drenched in the first place. Several others seemed to be trying new spells. The beastspeakers did not seem to be doing anything other than normal chatting.

Syaoran had relaxed. Sakura wondered what had made him so nervous in the first place. He looked at her.

" How are you doing?" He asked amiably. Sakura paused for a second, then smiled back.

" I'm good." She grinned. " This is great. I'm so excited. I've never seen anything like this."

" I bet you haven't." Syaoran nodded. " The Li clan never came to gatherings like this. We tended to keep to ourselves. You should have seen me the first time I attended one of these. I was completely lost."

He did not mention that the first time he attended one of these was right after Lee Senyan had been encased. He was so overwhelmed the first day that the waterspeaker children had to drag him out to meet everyone. Chul could offer no reassurance—he was too busy fending off the complaining representatives. Fortunately, the gathering also had a bit of a festive mood to it in addition to the politics, because the children were allowed to mingle as they rarely had the opportunity to, and an older teenager, often a member of the hosting group, planned out activities to entertain everyone, so it was more play for Syaoran than anything. After the first day or so, once everyone stopped gaping at his thunderspeaker abilities, with the help of his outgoing and determined waterspeaker family, he quickly made friends. His diminished sorcery and his lack of control over his elemental powers also served to heighten his popularity because people resented him less. It was not long before he was beginning to wish the gathering lasted longer, and when it was finally over, to look forward to next year's gathering.

" So what's the deal with this place?" Sakura asked. " Kids are segregated from the adults?"

" People under 15, as Chul mentioned." Syaoran nodded. " At fifteen they're kind of allowed to join either side, but usually people choose to attend the boring debates inside. Either that, or they stop coming."

" Why?"

" Start getting responsibilities at home, the like. Eriol probably knows more about this. Where is that guy? And where is Takashi-san?"

oO

The hour had arrived. Someone had raised the earth in the courtyard into some kind of platform, presumably an earthspeaker. Syaoran was standing on the top, holding a bunch of stapled papers in his hand. He untied the chou around his waist and flashed it to get everyone's attention, before tying it back while saying,

" Alright guys, you know the drill. When I say your name, say here. Don't say anything if you know someone I named isn't coming because that will confuse me. Got that? Also, don't leave until I've called everyone's names, because I have several announcements to make. Understood? Alright!"

It was a long and boring process. Yue and Kero had gone with Eriol, Nakuru, and Spinel into the Main Hall where the adults were. Fortunately, she had Tomoyo and Yamazaki, but everyone was so quiet and so patient she did not feel comfortable chatting with them. Despite having arrived with them, Syaoran still called their names, to which they responded. The way everything was executed so efficiently was a bit intimidating. As Sakura glanced up, she saw that Syaoran looked more authoritative than usual. In fact, she herself felt compelled to obey everything Syaoran commanded.

There were a lot of people, so it was no wonder that they split the adults from the children, if only to get everything done at the same time. When at last Syaoran finished the attendance, he hurriedly rushed to the announcements.

" First of all," He called out, " The waterspeakers would like you all to know that you are free to enter Seoul whenever you like, but you first must look Korean otherwise there will be a people trying to cheat you. Marcus will supply you with the Korean spell if you wish to go, but there will be no trips allowed until tomorrow at ten thirty." There were loud murmurs; apparently people were anxious to go tonight. " Second—any disputes will be brought to the waterspeakers, _not _me, unless there is a dispute between you and me." Some people laughed; apparently the very idea was preposterous. " I have no time to settle the millions of quarrels that might start. Take it to my more than capable cousins. Third. Most of you have already met my friends Daidouji Tomoyo and Yamazaki Takashi, but for those of you who don't know, they're over there—can you two give a wave?"

Tomoyo and Yamazaki obliged. Everyone's attention turned to them.

" I will deal with you personally if anything happens to them." Syaoran warned. People became rather grave as he said this. " Treat them as you would any non-magical friend. Other than that, no one is allowed to cross any of the eight mountains over there. If you don't remember your geography, the river divides North and South Korea. As long as the Council is in session, we will not fetch you from North Korea. If you do for some reason get lost and wander across the mountains, you will have to remain on that side until the Council disperses."

This was all sounding pretty morbid, in Sakura's opinion. She gave Tomoyo a worried glance.

" Considering we have a freaking fort built specifically so you guys won't accidentally cross over, such a case is hard to create." Syaoran gave everyone a dry look. " If you do cross, you totally deserve what you get on the other side."

Loud complaints were heard, Sakura caught something like " politics" and " who cares about communism" but Syaoran was waving everyone quiet again.

" Activities for tonight are posted online, if you guys want to go check. In case you don't know the website, it's www dot council dot org slash Seoul. This happens to be monsoon season, so there will be a lot of rain. _Spells to alter the weather are not allowed. _Even if it's just this area. If it's pouring too much for you to go sight-seeing, come play poker with me. Meeting adjourned, everyone have fun, I'll be around as well as other waterspeakers if you have any questions."

As Syaoran stepped down the earth flattened and the courtyard looked normal again. Loud chatter began, and Sakura had to push through some people to reach Syaoran. As she reached him, he was rubbing his eyes.

" Ugh. So many names." He groaned.

" You were, uh, pretty awesome." Yamazaki observed. " And everyone was listening to you."

" Well, I do have a lot of leverage." Syaoran's hands sparked, as if to demonstrate.

" Sounds like you've done this before."

" Actually I haven't." Syaoran paused. " And in fact, I'm sort of the wrong person to do this sort of thing. It really should be an older waterspeaker. But considering I'm Chul's son, well." He looked a little sad all of the sudden. " Say, let's see how everyone else is doing."

" Weren't you going to be around in case they had questions?" Sakura blinked

" What questions?" Syaoran winked at her. " Come on, let's go inside. It's bound to be more boring than out here, so I'm sure they'd appreciate us dragging them out."

oO

It turned out, Chul was doing pretty much the same thing Syaoran was doing, except the announcements were longer. In the past, according to Syaoran, Chul would take attendance but the announcements would be given by the hosts. Chul looked a little tired when they entered, since there were more issues, apparently, with the adults than with the children. Nevertheless, Eriol was not here to actually take action unless he absolutely needed to, and the guardians had nothing to say, so after the attendance was taken there was no reason for them to stay.

As they came out, Syaoran was assaulted by a group of teenagers. To fend them off, he told them to go introduce Sakura, Tomoyo, and Yamazaki to their activities. Feeling a bit disappointed, they obeyed anyway, and Syaoran was left alone with the older members of the Clow saga.

Eriol found this very odd. He would have thought Syaoran would take this opportunity to go hang out with friends.

" I'm joining them later." Syaoran replied. " Right now, if I go, I'd be stuck refereeing."

Eriol did not really care for a deeper explanation. He considered Syaoran, noting how tall he had grown.

" You are troubled." Yue perceived.

" What makes you say that?" Syaoran blinked.

Yue looked at him intently. " You cannot fool me. Is something wrong?"

" Nothing's _wrong. _" Syaoran rubbed the back of his head. " Just…" He sighed. " Kind of feel bad. All those times I complained about homework. Now I'll never get any."

" What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

" It's Chul's last summer as Council Chair." Syaoran looked nervously at the ground. " Come fall…part of the reason why it's in Seoul in the first place is…well, and also the reason why I invited you guys was…I'mgettingcoronated."

The birds suddenly started chirping very loudly, and even started to fight amongst themselves in the trees. No one was listening to them though.

" I guess that is expected." Though Eriol had to admit, he was surprised. Shocked, even. He had not given this much thought, the idea that his descendant would one day be the leader of representatives of all magical beings.

" It feels so weird." Syaoran admitted. " I keep trying to avoid thinking about it, you know. Because Chul's still here. And yet i'm taking over. He insisted, and what's more, the Council's insisting. I guess they think I'd be easier to manipulate or something. Something like that happened last year—one of them harassed me enough that I went out on him, and, well, at least I didn't get grounded for that." Syaoran shrugged. " But it's now a full time job. I'm going to be leader of the waterspeakers. And of the Council. And I won't be able to go to high school, or to college, or to grad school—I'm stuck in the magical world now. The Li clan pulled out because they wanted to be immersed somewhat in both worlds. There's really no way out for me."

" You sound like you've been sentenced or something." Eriol slapped his arm good-naturedly. " It isn't so bad."

" I guess I am the right person for the job." Syaoran replied morosely. " Just especially these days I've started thinking about that other world. How my life could have been, had these thunderspeaker abilities not shown up." He sighed. " Of course, now I'm sounding ungrateful. I wouldn't trade Chul for anything. But I know I'm losing something…something precious, and I have no idea what it is."

" You will be fine." Kero circled around Syaoran's head and landed on his shoulder. " You just need more self-confidence."

" People keep telling me that!"

" Maybe you should listen. For once."

Syaoran pretended to swat Kero, laughing. Then his mood dipped again. " I wonder what will happen with Sakura."

" What do you mean?" Yue asked.

" She's Card Mistress." Syaoran shrugged, bobbing Kero's body up and down. " She'd be a very influential figure in the Council no matter what. But she needs to choose. If she takes part in the magical world she won't be talking to people like Tomoyo for a long time. Lots of things happening. It is, in fact, a whole society, a whole world. But if she decides to stay in Tomoeda, to stay with non-magical people, I won't be seeing her much. And," He sighed. " Time passes too fast for elementals." He shook his head. He looked at Eriol. " You have to tell her, you know." He said mournfully. " I don't think I can make her understand that this is it."

Eriol nodded gravely.

" Nani?" Kero frowned at Syaoran. " Why is this it? Just because you're chair doesn't mean you're never seeing her again!"

" What did Chul say about this?" Eriol asked. He can explain to the guardians later, when he explains the situation to Sakura.

" He's getting used to the idea of working behind the scenes from now on." Syaoran replied quietly. " At least he's confident I'll do alright."

" I am too." Eriol answered. " As are we all. As for Sakura…"

" Let her make her own choice." Syaoran told him. " It's ultimately her life."


	4. Chapter 4

Song of Light

Chapter 4

Marcus woke, and, because Syaoran was very irritated with him, came to Sakura the the rest of the gang instead of waiting for them to come to him. He was not as much of an inebriate as his impression would hint. Apparently what got him was not the champagne, but liquor truffles, and the combination was too much for him.

" It's to my fortune, I suppose, that Syaoran is so mild-tempered." Marcus mused. " With him, especially when it comes to magic, it's sort of an all or nothing deal." Which meant, for games like water volleyball, Syaoran was stuck with not doing magic at all."

Sakura found herself feeling incredibly uncomfortable. She had kept in contact with Syaoran, but it seemed that was not enough, because it almost felt like Syaoran was a complete stranger to her. He had tried to explain things to her before, but it was too inconvenient so they both decided to wait until she visits one day. She never imagined that she would not even understand Syaoran's way of life anymore. It was very disheartening.

" He's very popular here." She was forced to remark in order to fill the impending silence.

" Yeah." Marcus agreed. " You should have seen him at his first, though. Shyest thing ever. Kids warmed up to him quickly though, and him back. They can feel from his aura that he's a good kid."

The comment made Sakura start. It was an interesting notion, the fact that the children here had judged Syaoran based on his actual spirit and not how he behaved. From her recollections of their first meeting, she could not imagine Syaoran would have made friends that easily in the start, even if, gauging from past years, Syaoran's manner had lightened up considerably.

As she joined the other children, now able to converse with them in Japanese instead of stilted English, they said to her, " Missing Syaoran already?"

" Yeah." Sakura admitted. Tomoyo and Yamazaki just grinned. She wished they understood just how she missed Syaoran.

" Haha." The kids exclaimed, " He never stops talking about you."

" Yeah, we feel like we know you already."

" Said you rollerbladed to school."

" Crazy!"

" Can you show us your staff?"

" Is it pink like he said?"

" Your mom was a model right?"

Unwittingly, the other children managed to calm Sakura's worries. Obviously, in his time here, Syaoran had not forgotten about her. _And why would he? You talk with him often enough. He's always got something to tell. And you always told him things. _There was, apparently, no love lost in the long distance. Despite having so many good friends now, there was still a place in his heart for Sakura.

She summoned a genuine smile.

" Ah, isn't that the loveliest girl in town!" One of the girls laughed and pulled Sakura to join them.

Sakura was not sure how she knew, but she had a feeling everyone had taken an instant liking to her. It may be what Marcus mentioned, about sensing auras instead of sensing attitudes. Marcus had gone to join the adults, who, now that the sun is setting, were beginning to head out, signalling that attendance, announcements, and apparently introductions, were now over. She suddenly remembered the five troublemaking shadowmasters that had done so much to help them find Syaoran years ago, and wondered where they went. Scanning the groups of children, she spotted what looked like shadowmasters, and after some inquiry, excused herself from the present group to join them.

" Konnichiwa!" Sakura greeted the children. They looked like they were about ten years old. " I am Sakura. I was hoping you guys know what happened to several friends of mine?"

" Who?" A shadowboy asked.

" Well, there were five of them. I don't know their last names, but they use to hang out together a lot. Dan, Teresa, Lea, Erledine...Akil...this isn't ringing any bells is it."

" Yeah it is actually." A girl replied. " Well there are a lot of Dans and Teresas and Akils. Erledine and Lea are both inside with the adults. They might come out soon."

" Oh. Daijoubu. Arigatou!"

The children bid her goodbye good-naturedly, and Sakura felt rather pleased with herself. She rejoined her old group.

" Funny, them." An aquatic beastmaster commented to her. She was very sweet-looking, with blue eyes and blue hair. Sakura was not sure if the hair was dyed or if it was naturally blue; it seemed to fit her. " First year Syaoran was the one that helped them mingle. They're a strange lot though."

Sakura imagined they would be. " Well, the magic they use is different."

" True."

" Everyone quiet down!" Someone suddenly shouted. The children quieted. It was not Syaoran who was demanding attention; it was someone Sakura had not quite met yet. She looked like one of the pagan witches; she was very tall and very thin and fair, with long brown hair that was plaited and a gleaming white circlet on her brow. She was dressed in green and brown and looked very regal.

" This year marks the last year Lord Syaoran will be joining our group, amongst others," She told everyone, " But next year our Lord Syaoran will be attending the council as the new Chair."

There was an awed silence. Sakura felt bewildered.

" He's over there with the adults already," The witch continued, " And doubtless, has important things to do now, but we really ought to have some kind of coming-of-age ceremony for him."

" Give him a Bar Mitzvah!"

" A what?"

" Ew! I don't want to listen to people reading lists of responsibilities in a language I don't even understand!"

" He's not Jewish!"

" Hey! Settle down! Not that kind of ceremony!" The witch looked annoyed. " I was thinking more like a birthday party of sorts. Or something. Something fun. It's his last fun year at the Magic Festival. It ought to be special."

" It's special already." Someone from the other side of the field called out. " His girlfriend's here."

Sakura blushed.

" Yeah, he only threatened us with a slow painful death if we hurt his Japanese friends. Weren't you there?"

" You think that's enough?" The witch asked skeptically."

" Course not!"

" He's going to be King of the World!"

" When's the banquet starting?"

" They're going to have a coronation anyway at the end of this. We probably should just pretend everything's normal."

Sakura stared at the beastmaster, Antonio. " What are they talking about?" She asked.

Antonio did not understand. " Ha? What do you mean?"

" What coronation? And a chair?"

" He's taking over Lord Chul Park." Antonio still did not understand, but he did manage to answer Sakura's question. " What are you confused about?"

Sakura suddenly remembered seeing Chul earlier that day, dressed in the ornate robes and carrying the scepter. Syaoran wanted Tomoyo to make him clothes...suddenly her heart dropped to her shoes.

" She doesn't know." An air beastspeaker noted. " She doesn't know Syaoran's import."

" Lord Syaoran?" Sakura was dismayed yet again. " He's a lord?"

" Well he's the son of Lord Chul."

" I suppose...but he...he's only fourteen!" Sakura shuddered, thinking about herself, and her other fourteen-year-old friends. When they had been ten, fourteen years seemed to be a long time, but now that she herself is fifteen, she knew how young she felt. And it did not quite matter that Syaoran was soon to turn fifteen either.

" Hey, you ought to see him manage affairs." Antonio told her.

" Yeah, he shocks them all. Literally."

" That's not true," The aquatic beastspeaker laughed. " He's a good diplomat. Must run in the Li family. People actually like him better than his father, because, well, Lord Chul didn't have the cleanest history. Syaoran is both more powerful and more trustworthy than Lord Chul, not that Lord Chul isn't doing a good job."

" He shall bring order and peace to the galaxy!" And the boy made a respirator sound.

" But he's going to have to sit in the Council and listen to boring speeches now." Antonio nodded. " A whole bunch of us won't be coming to Council after this year, because if we do it would only be to listen to speeches. He has to come, because he's leading everything. I wouldn't want to be in his position."

" Haha!" The others laughed. " After this year every time Syaoran appears to us on official business he's going to be all dressed up like a Chinese Emperor."

" Think he'll get that gold outfit?"

" Doubt it. His chou's white."

" He's not just thunder, not to mention thunder's not actually yellow to begin with."

However, as Sakura was beginning to develop inferiority issues, as the conversation went on she discovered that her title of Card Mistress held some repute despite Syaoran's accounts of her to the other children. Especially the younger sorcerers wished to see her cards, which she freely released, warning the cards not to hurt anyone. They went on to discuss what special event to hold for Syaoran's last "free summer". It was abruptly cut off when Syaoran soon joined them, baffled by the card spirits running around with the children. He cast the Sakura Cards a dubious look, but apparently figured Sakura could control her cards well enough that there was little risk, and asked what was going on otherwise.

" Nothing much." The group replied. Syaoran sat down on the picnic blanket and made himself comfortable. " How's your dad?"

" Hasn't come out yet." Syaoran smiled at Sakura. " How are they treating you?"

" Very well." Sakura stammered. It felt strange to look at Syaoran and see him so normal, when prior to this he had been described to be almost an Emperor, or some equivalent. He gave her a strange look, as if sensing her uneasiness, but brushed it off quickly.

" Aw Syaoran, you're not going to sleep are you?" The kids complained when he began to stretch himself out.

" Hey, who said I was sleeping? I'm just tired and wanted to relax." Syaoran scowled.

" Thunderspeaker? Tired? What nonsense!"

" Syaoran-san," Tomoyo turned to him, " Is the coronation what you want me to make robes for?"

Syaoran groaned a little. " Hai. Though mind you, they're not to be pink and frilly. In fact—"

" Ach," A new voice interrupted, " She's grown out of it, don't worry Xiaolang."

" Nezha!" Syaoran rose to a sitting position before anyone else could react.

" Your Highness." Antonio greeted, bowing his head a little. Nezha was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, though, and was actually a half-head shorter than Syaoran now. The last time Sakura had seen him, he was a head taller than she was. Now he was even shorter than her. It was very strange.

" Well," Syaoran folded his arms. " You sure pick your times. I never see you at Councils."

" You do now." Nezha folded his arms in a similar fashion. " And I used to come before, every four years or so. Just to fool around, really. I see I missed the opening ceremony."

" He read like a true reader!"

" Pronounced all of our names right!"

" Shut up!" Syaoran scowled at their melodramatic actions. He was still grinning though, so no one cared. " Well what's going on? I haven't seen you for a while."

" Been busy." Nezha replied, scooting over to face Syaoran. " Say, Sakura's sure changed."

" You're shorter than her now."

" Rub it in, brat."

Syaoran laughed. " I should take a picture of you two."

Ignoring the last comment, Nezha instead remarked, " Syaoran, I actually need you to come up with me."

" Come up? Where?"

Nezha did not reply. People began to get nervous. The Trickster God wore a very serious expression on his youthful face.

" Is it…is it _Niang?"_

" Yes."

Syaoran paused. " When do you want me to go?"

" Now, if you like. Just to get it over with."

Syaoran glanced gingerly at everyone. " Well, can't refuse a god. Or goddess. I'll be…right back?"

" Yup." Nezha nodded. " Come along."

It was so quiet as Syaoran got up, that Nezha glanced around almost uncomfortably.

" What?" He demanded. " It's no big deal! She just wants to talk to him!"

" About what?" A wizard asked, a little concerned.

" Just in general." Nezha glared. " What, you think he's in trouble or something?"

The ensuing silence confirmed that.

Nezha rolled his eyes. " You have over-protective friends, Xiaolang. Come on, let's go."

Nezha disappeared in a flash of flames and Syaoran disappeared in a flash of light. For several minutes an uneasy silence settled over the field, so much so that the adults noticed and asked what was wrong. Soon Chul came, and when he heard what transpired, merely laughed.

" She's giving him an early birthday present." Chul explained. " She does this every year, because she knows how annoyed I'd get if she takes him away on the actual day."

" How come Syaoran never told us that?!"

" When is his birthday anyway?"

Sakura was momentarily surprised by their ignorance, but upon reflection she realized it was not so unreasonable that his friends, many of whom he probably only met once a year for the Magic Festival, should not know exactly when his birthday was. In fact, looking at Chul, who, while having opened up considerably, was still a very reserved man, she would not be surprised if the two of them celebrated Syaoran's birthday quietly. After all, for Syaoran, who had lost his family that gave birth to him and learned that his sire had no love for him, it was possible Syaoran's birthday was as much of a gloomy day as it was felicitous.

oO

" I do not understand."

Yue was afraid.

" By the time Clow created you," Eriol told him soothingly, " He no longer attended the Council meetings. And, I imagine, he did not anticipate his successor to have much of a choice, after his own absence. The first period of a new Chair of the Council has always been to mingle with its members, each given their due time."

" What do you mean?"

"Well," Ritsuko told him gently, " When Chul was first coronated as Chair, he spent ten years, as required, with each magical group represented in the Council. This included other elementals."

Yue's eyes widened, and became more cutting. " _What?"_

" Wait a minute, he _has _to? What kind of bogus rule is this? And what if the Chair's not immortal?" Kero demanded.

" The Chair," Eriol explained, " Was always an elemental. Only elementals qualify. They are the ones that center our magic, even ones that have no direct influence from the elements. As living beings on this earth, we have at the very least one of the elements supporting our existence, and thus they are the only ones that can claim the position of Leader of Council without dispute."

Yue turned away. Nakuru reproached Eriol. " How come this was never mentioned earlier? We all knew them long enough. And you knew the rules yourself. You don't seem surprised by this at all."

" Ten years?" Spinel was exclaiming. " What is he, babysitting them?"

" And what's the problem with having to live with each for ten years? Sakura can just visit them!" Kero protested.

" One: that would be improper to do even among some of your relatives to suddenly pop by and see your boyfriend without much notice, and along your schedule, two: some of the places are not accessible to sorcerers. You see everyone is agreeable with each other now; intruding their home is another story."

" And what happens if Sakura chooses to stay with him? He still has to go around visiting them!"

" He is allowed to take companions." Eriol folded his arms. " I am really wasting a lot of time explaining this to you right now. I have to explain all of this all over again to Sakura once this is done."

" So if Sakura chooses to go to Syaoran, she gets to follow him everywhere?"

" Essentially. Until she dies."

" Meaning she would be giving up any hope of a normal life." Ritsuko said quietly.

" What kind of rule is this?" Yue asked desperately, though he seemed collected. Only his stormy eyes betrayed his emotions. " He has friends enough. Why so long? Why not; why not several weeks, instead? He is just getting to know them, isn't he? He can just turn into light. He understands everything when he is in that form."

" It's not just him getting to know them. It's _them _getting to know _him._" Ritsuko said sympathetically. " Ten years is not so long for an elemental."

" What's the point? It's not like there will be much of a difference if they don't like him! He's getting coronated, not elected!"

" And why is he getting coronated now?" Yue snapped. Though outwardly he was not showing it, they could all feel his distress. " He can very well allow Chul to remain regent, until Sakura passes."

" He has asked the same thing." Ritsuko smiled grimly. " And such a thing was not allowed…because the Council would be in uproar. He cannot shirk his duties for a girl he is not even engaged to, even if she is the Card Mistress."

" Engaged?" Kero looked at Yue.

" You see what the decision is." Ritsuko sighed. " It is impossibly young, but this is the choice."

Yue was having a hard time believing that Syaoran would force Sakura into such a position.

" He's not." Ritsuko defended him a little adamantly. " He'd wait. He has all the time in the world. But the rest of the world doesn't, and neither does Sakura."

Yue was silent. Sakura could either never see Syaoran again, or she would never see the rest of her family and friends. She could lose the one thing she treasured most, or everything else. The life she always knew, the life she was expecting, the lives she could have been part of. And whatever her choice, Yue was faced with the same dilemma. Wherever she goes, he would have to follow, regardless of what he leaves behind. He had not thought Destiny would be so unfair.

oO

As it turns out, it was not _quite _as bad as Yue understood it, though it was very nearly as despondent a situation.

" The sojourn's for me, not Sakura." Syaoran explained, after glaring in Chul's direction for not being the one to explain. Yue was unconsciously holding his arm, and the grip was starting to get a little too tight for his liking. " I scare them enough that if I spark my hair they'd get nervous and do pretty much whatever I want."

" Meaning?"

" Uh…" Syaoran hesitated, considering how to word it. " It really depends on where we are, but I'm definitely stuck in one place and Sakura's not? She's not exactly free to go back and forth as she chooses. It would take a lot of energy. But while I'm settling matters locally, unless Sakura could be of service (which she would, but that's beside the point) she could potentially have…vacations."

" How often?" Eriol inquired.

" Ano…I don't know." Syaoran shrugged uneasily. The conversation was paining him as well.

Yue covered his face with his hand. Awkwardly, Syaoran patted the hand that was holding his arm. It had gone lax.

" Look," Syaoran was beginning to get a little annoyed at how pessimistic everyone was being, " It's not perfection itself, huge sacrifices will be made, but you don't have to act like I'm making Sakura choose between life and death. It's not so inflexible. Granted, if she chose to stay in Tomoeda, it doesn't guarantee she'll be seeing her friends all ten years, and there's this thing called internet?"

Everyone was looking at him, making him even more uncomfortable, so he kept talking. " It's not as good as being physically present, and granted, she's not going to have _that _much access, but Japanese internet sucks anyway and people were able to live with these decisions before." He was starting to sound defensive. " And it's not like I didn't get the short end of the stick—no matter what happens I have to go solve local problems and I'm leaving friends too!"

" No one is blaming you." Eriol assured Syaoran. " They are just dismayed, that is all. This was not welcome news."

" Well I know _that." _Syaoran muttered unhappily, showing how unwelcome this news was to him as well. " But you're acting like I came up with this idea. I'm not a retard, you know!"

But despite knowing that the subject hurt Syaoran as much as any of them, Yue could not hide his true feelings on the matter.


	5. Chapter 5

Song of Light

Chapter 5

As evening fell the banquet commenced. Chul was called away right after he met with the Japanese group, which he had expected because he had met them merely to welcome them to Seoul, which he did not have the chance to until then, but there were pressing matters to settle before the banquet began. During the banquet, Syaoran sat at Sakura's table, which other children allowed, but was at first constantly harassed by adult spellcasters. He did not seem to have much of a defense against this, and the group was forced to tolerate their constant bother, until Matt (who also did not get to greet them properly) showed up and with very strong terms, told the adults to leave Syaoran alone.

He then said hello to everyone.

" You folks look almost disappointed. What's the matter?"

" Nothing much." Eriol did not want Matt to know the real reason. The windspeaker might have guessed, anyway. " It was merely an overwhelming day for some of us."

Matt chuckled, looking at Sakura, Tomoyo, and Yamazaki. " Indeed. The Council Gathering is an event to be reckoned with, alright. I hope you're having fun—it's a great opportunity to know what else is in this bizarre world of ours. In any case, enjoy yourselves, alright?" And he left, because he had to sit with the other elemental representatives, including Chul.

" So Syaoran-san," Tomoyo began, " What did you end up getting?"

" Hm?" Syaoran looked at her, confused, but then he realized what she was talking about. " Who, _Niang? _She gave me a flower."

Pause. " Are you serious?"

" Hey, don't look down at this one." Syaoran pointed. " It's magical." This earned some dry glares. " Each flower has twenty-four petals. Eat one of these petals and it gives you good luck for twenty-four hours, with no catch at all, except that this flower only blooms once a year so if you eat one petal you're down one petal. It's rare, even in Heaven, where all sorts of weird stuff grow."

" Wow, that sounds like a great present." Sakura smiled at him. " You should eat one for your birthday, definitely."

Syaoran chuckled. " Planning on it." He gave Sakura a look. For some reason it made Sakura blush.

The food was delicious. Sakura had a small stomach, so she was dismayed to find she could not sample nearly as much of what was served as she would have liked. The same went for all of the others, except for Syaoran, who seemed to have enough of an appetite to keep up with Yukito and Kero. He only stopped eating when they were done, and the group remained for a while in each other's company until they were weary and people were starting to retire to their rooms. Syaoran asked Yamazaki if he snored, to which Yamazaki indignantly replied that no, he did not, and that Syaoran should worry more about himself snoring.

oO

Things were not going anywhere near as pleasantly as Sakura's group imagined.

Chul caught up with Eriol and Yukito as they left and requested they delay returning to their rooms so he could speak with them. Curious, they agreed. Eriol told Nakuru, Spinel, and Kero to go back, as it seemed whatever Chul had to say must be said in confidence. And indeed, Chul quickly excused himself from the banquet and led them to his private quarters in the waterspeaker village.

Eriol took some time to look around the place. It was comfortably furnished, and he could see Syaoran growing up happily here for the past three years. He asked where Syaoran's room was, and Chul briefly replied that Syaoran did not have his own room—he slept in a room with several other children. It reminded Eriol of boarding school.

They finally reached Chul's quarters. Chul took the pains to lock the door and check the windows, before sitting down on his chair behind his desk and inviting Eriol and Yue to take their seats.

" Is this about Syaoran?" Yue asked. He had transformed on the way here.

" Hai." Chul nodded gravely, but he seemed at a loss for how to begin. He looked at the windows, distracted for a moment. To help him along, Eriol started the conversation.

" We noticed you were very concerned about his whereabouts while he was visiting us."

" Hai." Chul nodded. " There is a situation going on. It arose very recently, which was why I was unable to inform you two of this sooner."

" What happened?"

" At the end of the Council Gathering," Chul began, " There is a ceremony to be held where Syaoran will take my place as Chairperson of the Council."

" We know this." Eriol broke in. " Ritsuko told us so, and we have anticipated it."

" The trouble is," Chul folded his hands, " Someone has been trying to attack Syaoran."

" How?"

" Before he visited you," Chul rubbed the bridge of his nose. He looked every inch a Water Lord, Yue reflected, but also every inch a father. It was an impressive mix. " He had been practicing with the other children, as usual. I was speaking to Watanabe Ichiro, I am sure you remember him."

" Hai." Yue and Eriol replied simultaneously, anxious for Chul to get on with his story.

" We were dealing with some issues before the Council gathers when all of the sudden I heard Syaoran call for me through our link."

The link Chul spoke of was, of course, that paternal link between Syaoran and Chul which allowed Chul to sense Syaoran's well-being while Syaoran had been trapped in the other dimension, and for Syaoran to share the telepathic conversations with his waterspeaker family. No one knew how it formed or why, but it was very useful, especially considering what happened next in Chul's narrative.

" I was worried, because Syaoran rarely used that link to speak to me; he usually liked to speak to me normally. So I stopped to return his call. He did not answer. I knew something was wrong. Watanabe and I went out to join the children and to me, it seemed Syaoran was practicing like the rest, as if he never called. But Watanabe instantly rushed forward and yelled out a spell, and before anyone could react the spell struck Syaoran to the ground."

" Ichiro attacked Syaoran?" Eriol blinked.

" Iie." Chul looked even more serious than before. " Ichiro said he sensed a spell, very much like a hypnosis spell, on Syaoran, and had used a regular physical spell to knock him out of it. Afterwards, when Syaoran recovered a little, he told me that he had called me through our link because he sensed the oncoming attack, but was completely helpless to avoid or defend himself from it."

Silence fell.

" Why did you not tell us this sooner?" Yue asked. " When he was in Tomoeda? He could have been attacked there."

As Chair, Chul actually knew more about psychic spells than Eriol.

" Psychics have several groups which cannot mix the classes of spells." The Water Lord explained. " Because of how the spells affect the mind, it is important they keep these separate in practice and training. To learn more than one class can be devastating to their sanity and health, often leading to immediate death, because of how the spells in each of the classes are conducted. They are so incompatible, that it is impossible for any psychic to know more than one class and live to cast both, even if they were just learning, and they also prevent any alliances between different classes of psychics because their magical auras also repel too strongly. We first contacted Prince Nezha, who asked Syaoran some questions about the nature of the attack, and soon concluded that the psychic who cast that spell was, first of all, not extremely powerful—strong, yes, but not overwhelmingly powerful. Syaoran is unable to defend himself because his sorcery has diminished both in strength and skill from lack of use, as well as the death of the Li clan. Another important note was the type of class—the spell cast on Syaoran is that of a subconscious sort, meaning that if certain parts of his mind were engaged he cannot be affected by the spell. Therefore, if Syaoran is concentrating on something, or surrounded by friends, the spell cannot affect him. Times when he is vulnerable, however, is when he is not thinking very hard—usually when one is alone, for example. He had been in the bathroom when the attack took place. As long as Syaoran is with friends, he is safe."

" What about when he's sleeping?" Yue demanded. " He could have been controlled then."

" When Syaoran is sleeping, his mind is, ironically, the safest." Chul smiled bitterly. " He is enough of an elemental that when he sleeps his elemental magic takes over, so the spell still would not take effect. Nezha said that it does not sound like Syaoran is in much danger, and that such things may happen all the time. I am concerned that people should choose to exploit his sorcerer-side so soon."

" It only works on sorcerers?" Yue asked.

" Iie. It does _not _work on pure elementals." Chul rubbed his face. " Most things don't work on elementals."

" So Syaoran was vulnerable because he's half sorcerer?" Yue asked. " What about Sakura? What about other sorcerers?"

" Syaoran is vulnerable because he is a relatively weak sorcerer." Chul explained. " Sakura is powerful enough that she may be able to defend against such attacks, though her lack of experience does put her in some danger. Normally though, psychics focus on non-magical beings. More powerful psychics control weak sorcerers."

Eriol looked at Yue, knowing what the guardian was thinking. Yue himself had psychic magic, which he had only used during the Final Judgment. The moon guardian was not convinced of Syaoran's safety, or Sakura's.

" It is not so much the psychics I am worried about." Chul continued. " I fear there is a conspiracy against my son. In the time being, Sakura should be safe, but she is his best defense and some people may become aware of that. Her cards have the ability to look rather harmless, but if she does unleash her true powers, the way she did to ensnare Lee Senyan, she may be target as well."

" This does not encourage me." Yue replied bluntly.

" On the other hand," Chul folded his hands calmly, " Without Sakura, Syaoran is easy target for more experienced magicians who wish to exploit his underdeveloped sorcery skills. I honestly don't know how to face this. This has never happened to elementals before. Usually the only way to overcome us is direct combat, and since I became Chair, no one has ever tried."

" When did you become Chair?"

" When I was forty." Chul looked down. " Syaoran is young. I had thought, perhaps, my constant presence would thwart their efforts, but I think some people are misunderstanding, and there may be more attacks to come."

" Perhaps you can train Syaoran to fend off these attacks." Eriol told Yue. " Of our group, you are the one most adept in this field."

" I cannot train him in so short a time. Especially," Yue glared at Chul, " If he is going to go pay visits worldwide."

Chul sighed. " I don't know. This is more in your area than mine. I have taught him all I know about elements, but I know next to nothing about sorcery. It has been a source of pain for Syaoran over the years. He has told me he felt his sorcery diminish gradually ever since the death of the Li clan, and while his thunderspeaker powers grew he was losing more and more of his sorcerer's magic. He has lamented, several times, over the years, that he occasionally felt the loss of his clan, and kept wondering where their magic went."

" It is strange." Eriol agreed. " Magic does not just disappear. If the sorcerer dies the magic would dissipate into the environment, but with the Li clan linked as they were, Syaoran's continued survival should ensure the magic should go to _him, _if nothing else."

" Should we look for it?"

" We don't even know if there is anything to look for." Chul replied grimly. " The deities, certainly, have not found any sign of where all that magic went. Perhaps it was burnt in the conflagration."

Eriol looked at Yue. " One of us will have to keep an eye on Syaoran." He said. " The waterspeakers will not be enough. Ichiro is not here, from the looks of it. What do you think?"

" If you allow Ruby or Spinel to take care of Sakura, I am willing to guard Syaoran as long as I'm here."

" Probably for the best. It would be hard for me to stick with Syaoran if I am dealing with representatives."

Chul looked at them gratefully. " I am sorry for the trouble."

" Iie." Yue rose, and Eriol rose with him. " We are taking care of Syaoran together. You have taken care of Syaoran on your own for three years. Let us do our part now."

" That is not true." Chul smiled. " But I'm afraid, this is beyond my power to help him with. Be sure not to alarm Sakura or Syaoran. Syaoran has enough on his mind."

" I am sure." Eriol agreed.


End file.
